Archive

News

28.07.2017 14:02 Age: 2 İllər

GICON to create waste management concept for Colombian city

For the creation of a waste management concept in the Colombian city of Santander de Quilichao, the Dresden-based engineering services provider is receiving financial support from the German Investment and Development Corporation (DEG)

Collection of organic waste in Colombia

Since the closure of the local landfill, the southern Colombian city of Santander de Quilichao has been faced with a problem, as every day local garbage now has to be transported 130 kilometers for disposal. Through a new waste management concept for the agriculturally-influenced region, this situation should be rectified. GICON - Grossmann Ingenieur Consult GmbH has been awarded the contract for the preparation of such a concept. The GICON concept foresees that a biogas plant erected close to the city should be utilized in the coming years for the recycling of the organic portion of household waste (approx. 65%). In order to dimension the plant and determine its waste streams, various tests will need to be carried out beforehand. For this reason, a small waste testing system designed by GICON will be built in the coming months. "With this project approach, we pursue two objectives: to solve the local waste problem on a sustainable basis and to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by using waste as a renewable source of energy," explained GICON Managing Director Dr. Hagen Hilse with regard to GICON's commitment in Colombia. GICON received prorated project funding from the program "International Climate Protection Initiative – Climate Partners in Business" (DEG) for the development of the waste management concept (On-lending Agreement E9802).

As one of the world’s most water-rich countries, Colombia currently generates up to 70% of its electricity needs from hydroelectric power. In recent years, however, the frequency of both dry periods and the El Niño weather phenomenon have increased, which have had a noticeable impact on energy supply security. Colombia has been discussing a structural adjustment in the energy industry for some time. In addition to water, additional renewable energies such as biogas, wind and solar are to be established. In 2015, the federal government also enacted a law to promote renewable energies (Ley 1715).

At the same time, environmental protection legislation has been considerably modernized, including by means of regulations for integrated waste management (CONPES 3874) from November 2016. "GICON was able to have several comments incorporated during the course of the amendment of CONPES; as a result our expertise is considered of high importance. We have also contributed to the fact that a clear requirement was introduced to the regulations with respect to the separation of waste by the generator", explained Dr. Hilse, describing GICON’s contribution to the design of the law.

Construction of a waste testing system to be the cornerstone for large-scale biogas plants

GICON has been a leader in the development of new biogas processes for many years. With the GICON® Process, the company was able to bring a concept to the market, whose two-step process pay dividends through its better utilization of feedstocks. Now, a first waste testing system will be put into operation in the city of Santander de Quilichao, with a population of 95,000. With the waste testing system, initial data for the development of a large-scale plant are to be determined, and various other feedstocks typical to the region, such as industrial food processing waste (sugar cane, coffee, etc.), will be tested. With 20 kilograms of feedstock throughput per day, up to 400 liters of biogas can be produced daily. A large-scale biogas plant is to subsequently be financed and built with local partners in the coming years.

Know-how transfer and local specialist training by GICON

For the project in Colombia, the German engineering service provider is already working closely with local authorities. Significant coordination has been undertaken with local waste companies, the regional university (Comfacauca) and the regional environmental authority (CRC). For the partners, the cooperation is also an opportunity to profit from extensive GICON know-how. After the construction of the first waste testing system, extensive training and further development projects are planned. In this way, local specialists can be trained at an early stage for the future operation of the large-scale biogas plant.